Oh, How she waited
by Authorprincess
Summary: A somewhat, different version to the Iron Man movies. Different in that it focuses more on Pepper and Tony's relationship than the explosions etc. Uses scenes from the movies that have been slightly altered and my own scenes that I've added in. R&R please!
1. Welcome Home

OH, how she waited.

1. Welcome Home

She loved him. There was no denying that, she couldn't deny it even if she wanted to. All Virginia 'Pepper' Potts knew was that the night before, when she got the call that he was coming home, she broke. For three months she had stayed strong about his kidnap, attending meetings he would have attended and sorting through the files that were long outdated, but still it wasn't long before she found herself with nothing to do. So she waited. She would often find herself sitting in his room, surrounded by his subtle scent of coconut and vanilla, once she even woke up to hear JARVIS' usual time and weather report from under the covers of his bed.

But even so, Pepper stood there at the end of the runway staring at the plane with one thought; Mr. Tony Stark was coming home. The plane touched the earth with a small 'screech', Peppers heart was in her throat, beating harder and faster than ever before in her life, _how hurt was he? Can he walk? Was he so close to death that he didn't make it through the flight?_ Painful questions kept whirring around her head like a never stopping wheel,

'Stand by!' A man called, she was immediately snapped out of her hysteria. The gate on the plane was slowly lowering; Peppers blood was pumping in her ears now, making her feel dizzy to the point she felt she might pass out. Mr. Stark was there, getting up from a wheelchair, clinging on to Rhodey for support. He was okay...He was safe now, _he was okay._ A smile broke out across her face, tears threatened to spill out over her eyes. She swallowed it down, knowing it still wouldn't hide the fact that she had been crying.

"Hm..." He inhaled, loudly, analysing her face with a look of, what she would like to consider, deepest concern, "Your eyes are red."

_Damn, _She thought, _He noticed._

"A Few tears for your long lost boss?" He asked, his usual hint of sarcasm echoing in his voice. _Quick, think of something fast!_

"Tears of joy. I hate job hunting!" She laughed, real tears of joy beginning to tip over the edge, but for different reasons,

"Yeah, well, Vacations over..." He walked off to the car. Is that what he had thought she had been doing over the last three months? Vacationing? She followed Mr. Stark to the car.

The doors shut with a 'thud'. "Where to sir?" Happy asked,

"To the hospital...please..." Pepper interrupted,

"No! I hate hospitals. Home, just home." Stark winced in pain as he pulled out his mobile, he dialled a number, "Hi, yeah, I would like to order a cheese burger and fries," He covered the mouth piece, "Pepper, do you want anything?" Pepper shook her head gently, "Yeah, no that would be all," He nodded a couple of times "Stark Mansion, Malibu. "Kay, Thanks, see ya." He hung up. Pepper looked at him with a puzzled look. "I've spent three months captive, in a dark cave. All I want is an American cheeseburger." It went silent.

The Ride from the military airport to Stark Mansion was too short. Before Pepper had even had the chance to brief Stark on the goings on in the business he was already stuffing his face with the cheeseburger. Stark entered his Malibu mansion, greeted almost immediately by JARVIS;

"Welcome Home, Mr. Stark. I trust you are well, now you are home? The time in Malibu is 3:24pm and it is 79˚F, a fine summer day." The AI repeated the time and weather whenever somebody entered the house.

"it's summer already?" Stark asked, expecting no answer. He stomped downstairs to his workshop, leaving Pepper alone in the hall.

"I guess that's that then..." She muttered, retreating to her office.

Later on, nearing 8 o'clock, she gave up. Her mind wasn't on the speech for the press conference in a few days time, it was on Mr. Stark and how she hadn't seen him in five and a half hours.

"Jarvis, Where is Mr. Stark?" She asked the air,

"He is downstairs, Miss. Potts" JARVIS replied in his crisp British accent.

Pepper headed down the stairs to Mr. Starks' Basement/Workshop, with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. Gently entering the code, she walked into the room.

"Mr. Stark? Are you in here?" She called. After a cluttering of what sounded like pans, Tony Stark appeared, his button-up shirt unbuttoned revealing a rather defined chest, but that wasn't what shocked Pepper, She had seen him shirtless many times before. It was the glowing blue disc in the centre of his chest.

"Tony..." Pepper only ever used his first name when she was genuinely worried, "What _is _that?"

He sat her down, poured her a glass of champagne and sat opposite her.

"You still haven't answered my question..." she whispered, staring at the floor. This was one of the few things that scared her. This and losing the people she loved.

Stark Sighed, He wasn't going to get out of this question, especially when it was Pepper asking it. "It's an arc reactor" Noticing the puzzled look on Peppers face, he added "An electromagnet. It's keeping the shrapnel away from my heart,"

"What Shrapnel?"

"The Shrapnel that lodged itself in my bloodstream the day I was kidnapped." Stark Sighed again, "We were driving along the road, when suddenly the car in front of us blows up. The three Soldiers got out of the truck and were all shot dead. I figured I'd better get out too or I'll get blown up like the others were. I got out of the truck and ran, I hid behind a rock and tried to call Rhodey, but a grenade was thrown right next to me...It was one of mine...It was a Stark Industry grenade, used against me.

I was taken to their base. A man there somehow removed most of the shrapnel and hooked me up to a car battery and that kept the shrapnel away from my heart. They wanted me to create a missile launcher for them, I told them I would. But instead I built this" He tapped on the disc in his chest, "and a iron suit out of the materials they gave me, it helped me escape but it was destroyed in the process" Stark downed his champagne in one and looked at Pepper, this time expecting an answer.

"I don't know what to say..." She whispered, still staring at the floor.

"Then say nothing. I will no longer make weapons...They're going to people who intend to use it against me and my country, so I'll just stop all together."

"Fine...But the important thing is, you're home now...You're safe," She placed her half-full champagne on the table, "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" He nodded, deep in thought. Pepper got up and made her way to the door,

"I missed you, Mr. Stark," She said before leaving,

"I missed you too, Miss Potts," He replied, But she had left.


	2. You're all I have, Miss Potts

**A/N: this one is in Starks view, I found it harder to write so I'm not as happy with it as chapter one, it also is more attached to the film, but hopefully in chapter 3 I'll start straying from the movies' storyline a bit more. Prin xx**

2. You're all I have, Miss Potts.

"I thought that went well!" Stark exclaimed as he walked through the door, He had just announced to the world that Stark industries would no longer be producing weaponry and, for some reason, felt good about it, despite the three hours' worth of questioning by the press.

"Are you sure about this Mr. Stark? I mean, it's your fathers' life works, building up the company to what it is today," Pepper said, cautiously as she saw the scowl on his face. Stark never enjoyed being pressured by his fathers' memory, it made him feel that they were all wanting him to be like his father.

"I'm sure about this, Miss Potts. It feels right," He mumbled something about going downstairs, and left Pepper to handle the calls from various newspapers.

Stark poured himself a scotch and sat at his desk for a few moments, slowly sipping his drink in silent, deep thought. _So I need an electromagnetic chip, to keep the shrapnel away; A palladium reactor to keep it working and I need to fix in a light…I like the light…,_ Pain shot across his chest causing him to break the small fragile glass clenched in his fingers, _This really should be sorted out now._

The next few hours were spent with Starks highest attention, but soon he had made an altered, better version of the arc reactor.

"Yo, Butterfingers, over here! I need a light" The mechanical arm steered itself over to where Stark was indicating, a light flashed on over the chair that looked like the sort you would get at a dentist surgery. Upstairs he could hear Pepper watching the 6 o'clock news, Starks announcement was the headliner, obviously. He pulled off his shirt revealing the arc reactor ticking dully in his chest. He clutched the new one firmly in his hand; he tapped the one still in his chest.

"Pepper how big are your hands?" He asked the telecom, linked to every room in the house,

"What?" her voice sounded confused,

"How big are your hands?" He repeated,

"Why? I don't understand-"

"Get down here, I need you," Stark hated showing anyone any trust or affection, almost as much as he hated people handing him stuff. He just had a stronger connection with Pepper; he could actually _trust_ her with his life.

Pepper prodded the glass slowly, not needing to even glance at the digits. Her eyes were pinned on Stark and what he was holding,

"Hold up your hands," He commanded as she walked through the door, "C'mon hold 'em up," He wiggled his fingers a few times in her direction. Getting the message, she held up her hands cautiously.

"Wow, they are tiny, really petite," He noticed how small her hands were, slender fingers finished with a perfect manicure. For hands, they were quite attractive. Stark smirked at her,

"Is that the thing that's keeping you alive?" Pepper asked, gesturing to the new reactor he was holding,

"No, but it will be. That's why I need your help," Stark pulled the old reactor out of his chest gently, leaving a metal-lined hole leading right down into his body clearly visible, "I need you to reach down there and pull up the copper wire okay? _The copper wire,_" She nodded and reached for his chest, "just don't let the copper wire touch the sides. It's like operation, you touch the side, I go beep,"

She reached for his chest again, only to jolt her hand away, "I don't think I'm entirely qualified to do this, I'm not capable!"

"Pepper, you are the most qualified, capable person I have ever met. I need you, to do this..." He stared at her with a look of trust; she dipped her hand into the hole.

"Ugh! T-there's pus!" She exclaimed,

"It's not pus, just a discharge from the machine not from my body...The copper wire, you found it?" Stark felt a sharp surge of electricity run through his body. He jolted from the shock nearly making Pepper drop the wire,

"Stay Still; or I'll get you again!" She hissed,

Stark sighed, "okay, now you've got that, whatever you do, do not pull out the magnet at the end of the-!"

His body seized up, Stark couldn't breathe. He felt his heart stop momentarily, start again, and stop again,

"What's going on?" He heard Pepper say faintly,

"Oh, nothing...I'm just going into cardiac arrest..." He managed to choke out,

"What? I thought you said this was safe!" She cried, fumbling around his hand trying to get a firm grip on the fragile invention, "Tony, everything will be okay, I promise," She clipped the device into the hole. Stark let out a strangled gasp, then spent a few moments gasping for breath, the new reactor gently whirring in his chest.

"Don't ever, ever, ever make me do that again!" She laughed, holding her goo covered hands a metre away from her dress,

"Thank you, Miss. Potts," He smiled softly at her, "dispose of that will you?" He nodded at the old device,

"Don't you want to keep it?" Stark had pulled his shirt back on now; he turned to face her,

"Miss. Potts I have been called many things, nostalgic is not one of them," He smirked at her as she walked away.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" She asked politely,

"Yes, Miss. Potts, that will be all" He responded in the same tone.

In a matter of minutes, Stark had already digitally built the Iron suit and had begun taking away 'overly bulky' bits as well as making the suit more streamlined. Construction would begin tomorrow. It was well past ten when he trudged upstairs, he began making his way to his room before he realised that JARVIS hadn't told him if Pepper had left. Maybe his systems were malfunctioning?

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Just checking...Where is Miss. Potts?" He asked the AI,

"In her office, sir. She seems quite stressed; may I suggest getting her a drink and offer her to stay the night?"

Stark nodded in agreement. Normally, he hated guests, but Pepper was the only exception to his hatred. He poured a scotch for himself and a glass of Pepper's favourite white wine and put them on a tray. He knocked gently on the door to her office and let himself in, without waiting for an answer, it was his house wasn't it? He saw Pepper sat at her desk, head in her hands. Her long, curly, strawberry-blonde hair cascading down her back and her bright blue eyes fixed on the words in front of her. He placed the tray on the desk and sat opposite her,

"I brought you a drink," he pointed out after a minute of silence,

"Thank you, but I have so much to do; I just need to be left alone," She said, without looking up from her screen,

"No, Pepper, you're going to stop working, have a drink and stay here tonight, Jarvis is heating up your bed for you." she nodded, hesitantly taking a sip from the glass of wine.

Pepper and Stark spent the next hour talking about the company,

"This is not 'taking a break' Miss. Potts" Stark finally said dryly, topping up her drink before she had finished it. Pepper sighed,

"I'm sorry, Tony; about earlier...I almost killed you. When that needs to be done again, please ask someone else, if something worse happened and it was because of me, I wouldn't be able to live with that..." Pepper looked on the verge of tears; she looked away from him as if to hide it, but stark had already noticed. He leapt out of his seat and hugged her,

"I would ask someone else, but the thing is; you're all I have Miss. Potts..." He whispered in her ear, inhaling her scent, a light combination of roses and lavender; noticeable enough to make you notice it as you walk by yet subtle enough not to choke anyone walking behind her,

"Mr. Stark?" He released her, immediately realising that he had been holding her far longer than what was deemed appropriate when hugging your assistant, "If you excuse me now, I'll be going to bed now" she was blushing, her face was pinker than a Barbie dolls handbag, he had smelt her hair and she knew this,

"Goodnight Miss. Potts," He called down the hallway after her.

_Damn. Why'd you have to go and do that Tony? Now she thinks you like her, Stupid. _He knocked over the pencil pot and at small attempt at venting his frustration, it didn't work. He picked the Pencils up and shoved them untidily back into the pot, straightened his shirt and left for his room.

_Idiot._


	3. Honesty is the best policy

3. Honesty is the best policy.

Pepper woke up the next morning feeling somewhat relaxed, until she realised where she was. It was Saturday, the first day of two that were supposed to be spent kicking back and, well, relaxing. But when she wakes up in her room at Mr Starks' mansion, she knows she's not in for a relaxing weekend at the beach or whatever she feels like doing on her days off. Nevertheless, she continued with her morning routine. She decided what she would wear, from her limited supply of spare clothing she always left at Starks' in case of a late night, and lay it gently on her bed as she took a shower.

Thirty minutes later Pepper emerged from her room; her hair was in a loose ponytail highlighting her high jaw and cheekbones. Making her way into the kitchen/breakfast room, she was given Starks' usual greeting,

"Coffee's in the pot, cinnamon rolls are on the counter." He barked; he was not a morning person. That much was obvious. Stark grabbed his espresso cup and plate of pancakes and stomped downstairs. Pepper picked up the warm cinnamon rolls left on the side that Stark had cooked for her and poured herself a cup of coffee,

"Jarvis, what's on the agenda today," She asked the AI,

"Nothing in particular for today, Miss Potts. Although, Mr Stark is supposed to attend a peace benefit tomorrow night at 7:30pm and may bring a guest,"

Pepper nodded absentmindedly whilst munching on her breakfast, not even noticing how Starks' music had reached three-hundred decibels in the short space of ten minutes, Pepper sighed and headed downstairs. Stark was wearing some odd shaped boots and stood in the centre of the room, with a strange harness wrapped around his chest framing the blue reactor that silently whirred inside of him, poised as if he were about to jump. The volume instantly dropped when she entered, Stark whipped his head round to look at her but at the same time the boots blasted him off the floor several feet and crashing him back to the floor,

"Don't ever turn down my music again, Pepper." He said into the floor, muffling the majority of his words."

Pepper immediately went to help Stark up, only to be shooed away when she got close,

"What is the matter with you today? I don't know what you're in such a bad mood about, but it's not fair to take it out on me!" She insisted, "All I came down to do was remind you about the peace benefit you've been invited to tomorrow and I just get yelled at!"

"Sorry," Stark groaned as he got up, he moved over to his desk and sat on the chair behind it. Pepper retrieved the muscle care from the first aid kit; she squeezed a pea sized blob on her index finger,

"Where does it hurt?" She asked, sharply, clearly thinking that whatever he was doing was absolutely stupid,

"My shoulder," he told her begrudgingly, Pepper knew full well that he would rather she just left him alone, but if it came down to being in a great deal of pain or get treated, Stark would choose treatment any day.

Pepper began to rub the cream into his shoulder; his shoulders relaxed seconds after the cream touched his skin. Stark let out a noise almost audible,

"Thank you, Pepper. That helped the pain a lot," He said, stretching, "Listen, Pepper, about last night..."

"You don't have to explain, Mr Stark. I understand. I was stressed over emotional and you were comforting me, and I thank you for that." She said, indifferently.

"Please Pepper, on weekends call me Tony. Otherwise it sounds too professional. And for the records, I don't have any feelings for you in that particular way..."He smiled at her reassuringly. Pepper forced a sigh of relief, as she was positive this was what he wanted to hear, despite the stab of disappointment she felt as he spoke

Over the next few days, Pepper saw very little of Tony Stark. He went to the benefit and half an hour later came home with a girl whose dry cleaning she was asked to pick up, again. And that was the last time she had spoken to him. Wednesday morning brought a new day though; Pepper bounced into Starks' mansion with a spring in her step,

"Good morning Jarvis," She sang as she walked through the front door,

"Good morning Miss Potts, the time is 8:59am and it is bright but breezy with a slight chance of rain later on" The AI responded in its' usual tone.

Pepper strolled down the stairs to Mr Starks' workshop; he had his right arm in a brace from his shoulder to his palm. He was prodding at it around his elbow, making a spark shoot out every now and then. She hesitated; distracting Mr Stark while he was working was like sentencing yourself to imminent death. He would actually kill you. She stopped momentarily as she admired him, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed as he concentrated, eyes fixed on the point he was working on. As she cleared her throat, the light in his palm lit up and fired him straight back into the wall with a crash,

"You know, maybe you just shouldn't come in here?" He suggested, moaning in pain as he got up off the floor and took a seat behind his desk, Pepper followed him

"Tony, what are you doing? You're going to really hurt yourself if you keep doing things like this!" Pepper gestured irritably towards the table full of contraptions, with wires hanging off them, and odd bits of shaped metal that looked as though Stark intended to fit them together at some point,

"Urm… I am making 'hands free' torch lights for miners in other countries…" He was lying; Pepper knew this and was sure Stark knew that she knew this,

"Has anyone ever told you that honesty is the best policy?"

"Nope, Never." He smirked at her; she glared at him in return. He sighed,

"I am trying to modify and recreate the iron suit I used to escape in Afghanistan, what you saw me tinkering with there were flight stabilizers, I just can't seem to get the balance right between the flight plates and the stabilizers,"

"So you continue to put your physical health at risk to recreate something completely pointless?"

"It's not completely pointless…"

Pepper felt her temper rising within her, "So what do you intend to use it for? Revenge? Power over the US government? What?"

"I am bored. I am not about to start making weapons again, but without that job…I'm bored."

Pepper sighed, "I'm not saying you need to stop this,"

"You are." He muttered,

"Don't interrupt me." She continued, "I'm not saying you need to stop this, but _please_ be more careful. You just got back, don't kill yourself experimenting. It would make a mess and it would be plain stupid!"

_I just got you back, I don't want to lose you again..._She added silently.

Stark chuckled, getting himself out of his chair, to the bar he had down there and poured himself some of his favourite scotch,

"Sir, its 10:24am. I don't believe having a drink right now would be highly intelligent." JARVIS' voice echoed around the room, making Pepper jump,

"Yes well, evidently I'm not being highly intelligent in anybody else's opinion either," He responded sarcastically, shooting daggers at Pepper.

Pepper looked slightly taken aback for a moment; she recomposed herself before he noticed. She took a deep breath before speaking again,

"Tony, what's the matter? Why are you acting like this?" She asked him, her motherly tone replacing her frustrated one,

Stark threw back his drink and placed the glass on the table,

"I should be dead, I got lucky. There are things I've seen now that I can't 'un-see'. A man gave his life so I could escape; he had a family – wife, kids. I had no-one-" That stung,

"You had me, okay?"She yelled, "Do I mean so little to you, that I am subjected to being classed as no-one? Do you realise that those three months were spent looking for you, by the people who cared most?" She had never shouted at anyone like that before, "I'm sorry..."She whispered to the floor, ashamed of her outburst. Never before had she felt the need to scream at someone for regarding her as 'no-one', especially when it came down to Tony Stark saying it.

"That will be everything, Mr Stark" She turned to leave, He grabbed her hand and held it tight in his own. His hand was warm and soft,

"He had so much more; a wife, kids...I had no-one, except you," He said softly, his chocolate brown eyes met hers "I knew he wouldn't make it out, _he_ knew he wouldn't make it out. So I tried to create a justifiable reason for leaving him there. Pep, I would be nowhere without you. You keep me grounded; I wouldn't be able to function if you weren't there every day. I would never regard you as no-one, Miss Potts, You're my best friend." Pepper fought the desire to tell him everything right there, about how she loves him and feels an explosion of jealousy every time she was told to collect the dry cleaning for another girl, about the fact that she loves the way he fights for what he believes to be the right thing and won't give up until he has achieved it. She swallowed, hoping it would take down and unwanted words,

"I have work to do...I shall see you later, Mr. Stark," She left before her feelings began to pour, unwillingly, from her mouth.


	4. Life at risk

**A/N – I am aware I haven't updated in a while, but truth is, I lost the mojo for this until a few days ago. I was tidying my room and I came across the print outs for the other chapters and I got it back, so I hope you like it! ;)**

4. Life at risk.

The next few days led into weeks that led into a month since Pepper and Starks 'heart to heart', and they had hardly seen or spoken to each other since. His suit had become a frequent subject of their arguments as it was now fully built and Stark was neglecting his duties even more so than he was before. After a while Pepper gave up, she stayed out of his way and tried to work, whilst trying to ignore the occasional crash and bang coming from his workshop.

But one thing stayed on her mind, Tony stark had shown emotion, for the first time in the ten years she had known him; he had shown an emotion other than anger, frustration or lust. Was it just her imagination or had he shown her passion and maybe even a hint of love? _Come off it Pep, you sound like a teenager, obsessing over a guy who probably doesn't feel the same way. Move on._

Stark was rarely at home, he would be out 'flying' or elsewhere doing god-knows-what. Pepper had just finished counting up the annual expenditure of Stark industries when Jarvis spoke;

"Mr. Stark has returned, he is downstairs"

Pepper got up from her desk and headed down to his workshop, preparing a rather detailed lecture about how irresponsible he is for abandoning his work to go out 'flying' in his suit, only to stop dead in her tracks at three smashed windows and Starks voice echoing through the room;

"Ow, Ouch, hey – easy! I designed this thing, it should come off somehow!" He said,

"If you stopped moving, sir, it wouldn't hurt as much." Jarvis responded in a dry tone. Pepper walked through the window frame, hesitantly, _what had happened? Why are three windows smashed?_

"What's going on here?" her voice barely louder than a whisper, Stark froze.

"Let's face it this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing..." He muttered. Pepper looked at him; the suit was covered in holes with a mixture of oil and blood slowly seeping out of them,

"Are those bullet holes?" She breathed, Tony gulped, "Tony Stark, are those bullet holes?"

"Uh, maybe, why? Were you worried about me?" He flashed a cheeky grin at her,

_If only looks could kill, _She thought.

"You realise that I'm working overtime to make sure that this company doesn't fall to the ground, whilst you 'fly around' potentially getting yourself seriously injured?" She said, lecturing him like a mother would her naughty child,

"And do you realise that I just saved a village full of people from being killed by terrorists and chased by the US air force because they thought I was an unmanned bogey?"

"That's what I mean-"

"But Pep, that's what _I_ mean; I did all of that, got myself injured, but I don't care because saving them made this all worth it. I finally feel that I helped people!" With the suit fully removed, Pepper could see the extent of his injuries. His hands were severely bruised, his arms covered with dried blood from cuts up towards his shoulders and a second degree burn caressed one of his collarbones. She moistened a towel and pressed it against his chest,

"You have no instinct of survival, do you?" She whispered,

"I've never felt the need to use it, until recently" He muttered, placing his hand over hers on the damp towel that was slowly turning a dark red.

Pepper pulled her hand away and got up to leave, Tonys' water-mixed blood laced her hand, and she wiped it off with a sense of finality, "I'm sorry, but if you continue to put your life at risk, I want no part of it – I quit"

"Pepper come back, you don't mean that, surely?"

"Yes, I do! Okay? I mean it! If you're going to kill yourself, I don't want anything to do with it." And she left, leaving Tony alone, speechless.

Pepper had to pull over several times on the drive to her Santa Monica apartment, for many different reasons; regret of leaving, fear of having no job, leaving the man she loved – who didn't even know it. Her tears fogged her vision to the point of giving up. She pulled her little Renault into a lay-by and stared out into the moonlit pacific. Tony brought her here once, to cheer her up after her dad died. He told her how he never got to say goodbye to his, and how she was so lucky to be there with her dad when he did. He succeeded in cheering her up that night, that was the moment she realised she was in love with him. Tony. His name, his face brought back the pain of leaving, the look on his face when she said she was done. With her head in her hands, she let the tears leak from her eyes.

An hour passed and Pepper decided she had to leave, job hunting would have to commence in the morning and she couldn't do that with puffy eyes and no sleep. She turned on the engine and glanced back at Stark mansion; a little spark shot out of the roof and continued to shoot upwards. _He won't learn..._

Pepper was on autopilot, she didn't know how she got home or what time it was when she did. Closing the door behind her, she stared into the dark apartment. Her eyes were empty, the ambitious flames that once sparkled in them had been extinguished and the cinders left to rot – she felt as though she was dying inside. A light in the corner of the room flicked on, snapping Pepper out of her mournful daze,

"It's been ten years, Potts, why isn't Stark dead yet?"

**A/N – HOW D'YA LIKE THEM APPLES?! Okay, there is a reason I haven't put who said it and that is: I need a villain – And that's where you 'the readers' come in! :D In review or PM form I would like you to submit:**

**Name**

**Relation to Tony**

**Why do they want Tony dead?**

**How does this person know Pepper?**

**Obviously it's a 'I will pick the best' OR if I like a few different ones I will create the villain based on the ideas, and obviously full credit will be given to the creator(s) of the baddie! :P**

**Please Rate, Review and ENTER!**


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